Title: Darwin’s Nightmare Chris Knortz Director: Hubert Sauper How is the central argument or narrative of the film sustained?
The film opens with a fisherman on the shore of Lake Tanzania, he tell of the cargo planes from Europe taking the fish away as people in the area are starving. The planes come empty and leave with tons of fish every day. The other point is the disruption of the natural order of the food chain in the area. An exotic fish was introduced into the lake several decades ago. This fish eats all the other fish in the lake, but for the fishing industry this has been a great economic benefit. Many of the people around the lake are employed by the fishing industry. What sustainability problems does the film draw out?
The sustainability issues that are shown are very broad. There is the immediate issue of people starving because many of the native fish in the lake are gone. Also the fishing industry has a monopoly on the people and does not offer fair wages. This then reaches into deeper social issues of prostitution and AIDS. Both these problem are tied back to the fishing industry in the area. In families where the father dies, the mother is forced to turn to prostitution to support herself. The children then turn to live on the streets. The fathers are forced to work these dangerous and destructive jobs, if they do not, their families do not eat. There is no way to further the development of the society if every generation is forced into prostitution and living on the streets.
Later in the film there is discussion about the arms dealing that goes through the area. Many of the planes that take away fish every day to Europe also bring in weapons. For the owners of the planes this is seen as another source of profit. For the people in Africa this perpetuates the climate of constant war and destruction. What parts of the film did you did most persuasive and compelling?
One of the main characters in the film was a man who was introduced while he was guarding the National Fisheries Institute. He told of how he was ordered to wait for intruders to enter the fence before shooting at them, because there it was legal to kill them outside the fence. He later explains that even though he does not like this job, he must work there because it is the only one he can get. This man is shown throughout the movie explaining different situations that the local people encounter. The closing section of the movie is him talking of a potential war in the country. He says many people wish for a war. This would bring jobs to the people and give them a reason to fight. This is an example of the destructive social position the fishing industry puts the local people into.
Another part of the film that shows the cycle of perpetual of social problems was the interview with Reverend Cleopa Kaijage. He had just preformed a funeral service for a fisherman who had died of AIDS. The man did not make enough money fishing to purchase enough of the medication to keep himself a live. The Reverend then tells of how the wives of these dead men must go to the lake to be prostitutes to support their families, thereby spreading the disease further and continuing the cycle. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by?
There was not much in the film that was not attention grabbing. The entire style was very dramatic and eye opening. One would always like to believe that everyone in the world has the opportunity to make their lives better, but for some of these people in the film that may not be the case. It was amazing to see the apathy many of the people working for the fishing industry and cargo planes had. One worker on a plane said he did not know what was in the cases that he brought from Europe to Africa. He spent much of his time dodging the answer, when in reality there were guns and other weapons in those cases. This plane worker and many other businessmen involved know what is happening and the problem that are caused but fail to change their action because of their interests in making money. What audience does the film best address?
There is a very dramatic style used in this film. It does and excellent job of drawing the viewer in and awaiting the next scene. It speaks well to an audience that has never considered this vast array of issues originating from the commercial fishing industry on a lake in Africa. This thinking can be applied to any area where a company or industry is taking advantage of a group of people because of their lack of ability to resist such abuse. These people in Africa have very little political power, in fact they are dependent of the fishing industry for their small economy as it is. If they did manage to force the industry out of the area, the economy would experience significant changes. What could have been added to the film to enhance its environmental educational value?
The film never looked into the policies of the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. It only suggested that these were two organizations that perpetuated the social problems in the area. A further look at some of the policies and action that encourages such behavior would have been interesting. These are the organizations that people in the developed world trust to help support these deprived people. These are also the places that most will turn to when trying to make changes in the area. Many people will not travel there directly to help.
Parts of the film were slow for dramatic effect. This could have been better used in giving more facts about the population. It would have also been helpful to look at the population causing the problems. Take a look at the Europeans system that encourages this. There was very little reference to this fact, one quote that was stated “2 million white people eat fish from the lake every day”. This quantity of food production could greatly reduce the malnutrition in parts of Africa. What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film?
One change people could make to their lives would be to only eat fish that was harvested from political stable areas with good environmental policies. Voting with dollars could encourage some of these areas to change. Also applying political pressure to world organizations and governments to encourage change to the world fishing community could be used to create change. One example would be to lobby the IMF to change their economic policies in the area to encourage healthy development of the community. What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out?
I spent some time looking into the effects of the World Bank and the IMF in Africa, I found an article on GlobalIssues.org Structural Adjustment—a Major Cause of Poverty. The article was written by Anup Shah, he organizes and writes for the site globalissues.org. The article has some background on the World Bank, it was originally set up to help finance the reconstruction of Europe after WWII. Then during the 1980’s it changed its purpose, it began to focus on riding the world of poverty. Some have argued that this organization has increase the poverty in the world because of it poorly thought out policies. Some examples of these are the requirements countries must meet in order to receive these lone. Countries must privatize many of their state organizations, change policy to encourage currency devalue, increase interest rates, and to attract foreign investors they are encouraged to reduce or remove their various regulations. These actions then lead to companies or entire countries taking advantage of the population. One example would be in Lake Vitoria. The factories were set up to provide jobs for the people. With the reduced regulation and devalued currency the people are forced to work in terrible conditions.
The other article I found was a study on the poverty levels around Lake Victoria. It was done by the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute in 2004. The study looked into the actual causes of poverty of the population around the lake. It found there was a large amount of corruption in the business men and government officials in the area. This lead to people not receiving fair prices for their good, or being powerless to change the situation through political means. The study also pointed out a severe lack of education. Some of the population was literate whoever most lacked the necessary skills to become members of an industrial society.
Director: Hubert Sauper
How is the central argument or narrative of the film sustained?
The film opens with a fisherman on the shore of Lake Tanzania, he tell of the cargo planes from Europe taking the fish away as people in the area are starving. The planes come empty and leave with tons of fish every day. The other point is the disruption of the natural order of the food chain in the area. An exotic fish was introduced into the lake several decades ago. This fish eats all the other fish in the lake, but for the fishing industry this has been a great economic benefit. Many of the people around the lake are employed by the fishing industry.
What sustainability problems does the film draw out?
The sustainability issues that are shown are very broad. There is the immediate issue of people starving because many of the native fish in the lake are gone. Also the fishing industry has a monopoly on the people and does not offer fair wages. This then reaches into deeper social issues of prostitution and AIDS. Both these problem are tied back to the fishing industry in the area. In families where the father dies, the mother is forced to turn to prostitution to support herself. The children then turn to live on the streets. The fathers are forced to work these dangerous and destructive jobs, if they do not, their families do not eat. There is no way to further the development of the society if every generation is forced into prostitution and living on the streets.
Later in the film there is discussion about the arms dealing that goes through the area. Many of the planes that take away fish every day to Europe also bring in weapons. For the owners of the planes this is seen as another source of profit. For the people in Africa this perpetuates the climate of constant war and destruction.
What parts of the film did you did most persuasive and compelling?
One of the main characters in the film was a man who was introduced while he was guarding the National Fisheries Institute. He told of how he was ordered to wait for intruders to enter the fence before shooting at them, because there it was legal to kill them outside the fence. He later explains that even though he does not like this job, he must work there because it is the only one he can get. This man is shown throughout the movie explaining different situations that the local people encounter. The closing section of the movie is him talking of a potential war in the country. He says many people wish for a war. This would bring jobs to the people and give them a reason to fight. This is an example of the destructive social position the fishing industry puts the local people into.
Another part of the film that shows the cycle of perpetual of social problems was the interview with Reverend Cleopa Kaijage. He had just preformed a funeral service for a fisherman who had died of AIDS. The man did not make enough money fishing to purchase enough of the medication to keep himself a live. The Reverend then tells of how the wives of these dead men must go to the lake to be prostitutes to support their families, thereby spreading the disease further and continuing the cycle.
What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by?
There was not much in the film that was not attention grabbing. The entire style was very dramatic and eye opening. One would always like to believe that everyone in the world has the opportunity to make their lives better, but for some of these people in the film that may not be the case. It was amazing to see the apathy many of the people working for the fishing industry and cargo planes had. One worker on a plane said he did not know what was in the cases that he brought from Europe to Africa. He spent much of his time dodging the answer, when in reality there were guns and other weapons in those cases. This plane worker and many other businessmen involved know what is happening and the problem that are caused but fail to change their action because of their interests in making money.
What audience does the film best address?
There is a very dramatic style used in this film. It does and excellent job of drawing the viewer in and awaiting the next scene. It speaks well to an audience that has never considered this vast array of issues originating from the commercial fishing industry on a lake in Africa. This thinking can be applied to any area where a company or industry is taking advantage of a group of people because of their lack of ability to resist such abuse. These people in Africa have very little political power, in fact they are dependent of the fishing industry for their small economy as it is. If they did manage to force the industry out of the area, the economy would experience significant changes.
What could have been added to the film to enhance its environmental educational value?
The film never looked into the policies of the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank. It only suggested that these were two organizations that perpetuated the social problems in the area. A further look at some of the policies and action that encourages such behavior would have been interesting. These are the organizations that people in the developed world trust to help support these deprived people. These are also the places that most will turn to when trying to make changes in the area. Many people will not travel there directly to help.
Parts of the film were slow for dramatic effect. This could have been better used in giving more facts about the population. It would have also been helpful to look at the population causing the problems. Take a look at the Europeans system that encourages this. There was very little reference to this fact, one quote that was stated “2 million white people eat fish from the lake every day”. This quantity of food production could greatly reduce the malnutrition in parts of Africa.
What kinds of action and points of intervention are suggested by the film?
One change people could make to their lives would be to only eat fish that was harvested from political stable areas with good environmental policies. Voting with dollars could encourage some of these areas to change. Also applying political pressure to world organizations and governments to encourage change to the world fishing community could be used to create change. One example would be to lobby the IMF to change their economic policies in the area to encourage healthy development of the community.
What additional information has this film compelled you to seek out?
I spent some time looking into the effects of the World Bank and the IMF in Africa, I found an article on GlobalIssues.org Structural Adjustment—a Major Cause of Poverty. The article was written by Anup Shah, he organizes and writes for the site globalissues.org. The article has some background on the World Bank, it was originally set up to help finance the reconstruction of Europe after WWII. Then during the 1980’s it changed its purpose, it began to focus on riding the world of poverty. Some have argued that this organization has increase the poverty in the world because of it poorly thought out policies. Some examples of these are the requirements countries must meet in order to receive these lone. Countries must privatize many of their state organizations, change policy to encourage currency devalue, increase interest rates, and to attract foreign investors they are encouraged to reduce or remove their various regulations. These actions then lead to companies or entire countries taking advantage of the population. One example would be in Lake Vitoria. The factories were set up to provide jobs for the people. With the reduced regulation and devalued currency the people are forced to work in terrible conditions.
The other article I found was a study on the poverty levels around Lake Victoria. It was done by the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute in 2004. The study looked into the actual causes of poverty of the population around the lake. It found there was a large amount of corruption in the business men and government officials in the area. This lead to people not receiving fair prices for their good, or being powerless to change the situation through political means. The study also pointed out a severe lack of education. Some of the population was literate whoever most lacked the necessary skills to become members of an industrial society.
Shah, Anup. “Structural Adjustment-a Major Cause of Poverty” GlobalIssues.org November 2010 http://www.globalissues.org/article/3/structural-adjustment-a-major-cause-of-poverty
Omwega, Abila, and Lwenya. “Fishing and Poverty Levels Aroudn Lake Victoria Kenya”. Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute. 2004.